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So here we are again, counting those small victories that have been accomplished with great love......

1.) As a personal challenge, I delayed grocery shopping for over two weeks. Our fridge, freezer and pantry were significantly empty, and I learned how to be creative in making breakfasts, lunches and dinners. It's great to know that we, a family of seven, can truly live on very little if need be....and that I normally get groceries more often than I really need to.

2.) Upped my exercise routine from 1.5 miles to 3 miles. Felt good to challenge myself.

3.) Kept up on weeding and watering the vegetable garden and nothing has died yet.

In Progress:

4.) A school project.....all about hymns. Our Church is rich and deep, the lyrics are so beautiful and some go back to the 5th Century! Favorite so far....."Take My Life and Let It Be" - Public Domain

For two nights now, my Knight has been having nightmares. The poor boy tells me in detail of good versus evil forces battling it out in his dreams: the evil ones tempting him with Legos, and the good overpowering it all until the evil disappears from sight. It even included a vision of the devil, which scared my little boy more than he wanted to let on.

Last night, I casually mention to HH, "Take a minute to bless the boy and his room with holy water will you?"

This morning he told me again, of another scary dream, that he was being tortured and I was there, but instead of helping him, I simply watched it all happen. This one brought the boy to tears, and as we hugged this morning in his room, I reassured him, "Oh, Buddy, I'd save you, don't you know that...."

In his tears, he said he knew, but that it was a very bad dream and he didn't like it.

I heard enough.

Then I found my husband getting ready for work. I asked HH if he ever got the blessing …

So I know it's been about a week since my last post....but if you are interested, I did write a new column for CatholicMom.com that hasn't appeared on the blog. It's about a recent reception with our Archbishop of Chicago: Cardinal Francis George.

We've been relaxing. Summer is perfect for it. No stress, no pressure, just allowing for some fun times with the children. Here's some pics of what we've been up to....

Today my neighbor paid me a visit.From over the fence, she mentioned how she’d love to see my garden, as she is an avid gardener herself.Once coming into my back yard, I realized quickly, her visit was more about things she wanted to tell me, versus actually spending any time looking at my vegetables. The wisdom that came from this brief, unexpected, yet profound visit, left me walking slowly around my yard, looking at my children’s sweet faces, with a new understanding of life in general:The grass isn’t always greener.

She is Lithuanian.She’s a mother to three grown children, grandmother to several and wife to my Ubber-American next door neighbor, which we affectionately call, Mr. Harry.She began to tell me about how blessed I was with my crew of five kiddos mingling about the playset.She talked about her children, where they all live, and the state of many people in her homeland of Lithuania.She told about rampant alcoholism, where parents keep having more children to gain more welfa…

For all the Dads who have 'Saved the Day' by rescuing lost toys from underground plumbing, coming home with replacement flowers for broken orchids, indulging a six year old with board games, making breakfasts on weekend days, barbecuing after a long day's work, persisting on a basement playroom, putting up pools in 90 degree heat, shoveling mulch on two days notice, taking out the trash and bringing in the milk, planting blueberry bushes, pancake Saturdays and Star Wars evenings, quoting interesting factoids and building dioramas, a smile, a hug or a 'good job', proudly wearing a homemade tie, and for the many other ways you are our Hero, Thank you. Thank you for being the Dad. For giving when it's inconvenient, Sacrificing when no one is looking, For the protection, the security, the love that you bring to every situation. Happy Father's Day!

I haven't been good about doing Small Successes lately, but I really do think, it helps every now and again, to give ourselves a little pat on the back....it keeps us going one small accomplishment at a time.

1.) Used new recipes this week. Favorite new find: Almond Pound Cake. Delish!

2.) Updated kids wardrobes with summer clothes. Too much cute stuff out there. I think I went over board, being shopping deprived as of late.

3.) Took all kids to local library and enrolled them into Summer Reading Program. Best. Decision. Yet.

In Progess:

4.) Keeping up exercise routine, after a dear friend commented, "Did you lose weight?" What motivation!

You work hard and suffer because it makes you a better man (or woman). If the rewards you seek are found in the praise and adulation of others, you are destined for disappointment, because the moment you drop one pass, or lose one game, the cheering stops and the praise goes away. Internal rewards, the ones you gain from pain, sweat and tears, stick with you forever.

Lou Holtz "Wins, Losses, and Lessons" Chapter 5I added (or woman)....

What I didn't realize was that authority comes with the job: respect was what I needed to earn, and you earn respect only by proving yourself as a leader.

Summer reading is the best. We stopped at our local library and signed up the kiddos for a summer reading program that includes prizes for diligent readers. I've never seen my four sit for such long periods of time, concentrating on their new library books.

I am quite pleased.

Joining in their reading has been a wonderful gift for myself as well. HH read a book by Lou Holtz, "Wins, Losses and Lessons" and recommended it to me. Truthfully, it didn't interest me as much, sports books rarely do.

However, HH insisted that I'd love it, and so believing HH knows me so well, I've picked up the book....and I hate to say it, but he's right. I am having trouble putting it down. While the first few chapters have oodles of quotable lines, this one below, I tell you, smacked me straight in the face.

Life provides all of us with a series of choices. The choices we make determine how successful we are. When you acknowledge that you and only you are responsi…

The end of the school year has always brought with it a series of events, one of which is Field Day. This beloved tradition, that even I remember in my own public school days, has been a favorite of my children for years and years. The day includes relay races, team competitions, a rented DJ for dancing, BBQ, treats and deserts and so much more. This year, a new addition was brought to the Field Day activities: Face Painting.

Oh, how all the school children lined up in a hurry for this newest treat, my children included. While for some, attention was diverted for a time, others enjoyed the skill and artistry of this patient and talented face painter.

The day was hot. The sun was searing and most tried to find relief in the very limited space of the overhang of the school building. Without a cloud in the sky, temperatures raged on up over 100 degrees. The children were pouring water over themselves and even the adults were finding creative ways to endure the heat.

There's been a significant delay in blogging as of late. Life is too busy. The weather is too beautiful. The garden needs weeding, the laundry needs folding and I am sure I am supposed to baking some delicious treat for one of my crew to take to school.

Life goes on. With or without me.....with or without posting a snippet of our lives regularly.

However, I have believed since the start of this blog, writing a few things down can be quite therapeutic, mentally sorting through past events to make sense of it, learn something new, or how to handle it more efficiently in the future. Recently, a few events with our family, made me sit back, and wonder, what, really is worth fighting for.

I don't mean 'who' is worth fighting for. That's too easy. I mean, what ideal is worth fighting for. What notion is worth standing up for. What virtue can you see yourself making a stink over, just because it REALLY is THAT important.